Moonlight Drabbles
by Ceylonna
Summary: Kaoru has a penchant for paranormal romance novels. Kenshin is a mystery writer with a dark secret. They first encounter each other under the moonlight. A series of drabbles.
1. Moonlight Meeting

**Author's Note: **I'm posting all my "moonlight" drabbles as a collection. They (currently) all form a series and give glimpses into a storyline. This will not be a full story, as I don't really have a plot or storyline in mind. Many of these are inspired by drabble challenge prompts. This one is from is #3 Moonlight Walks, from The Romance Themes List Drabble Challenge by Sailor Draco.

**Disclaimer:** All standard disclaimers apply: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin, I make no money off this work, etc. Characters of Rurouni Kenshin are the property of Nobuhiro Watsuki.

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Kaoru turned off the car and cursed. She was well and truly stuck in the ditch. The unfamiliar winding road plus the sudden appearance of a deer in her headlights had sent her swerving off the gravel and into the mud. The thick mud, no doubt from the heavy spring rains, combined with the sloped embankment made it impossible for her to drive her car back onto the road. And she wasn't about to try pushing it out alone, at night, in who knew how deep of mud.

During the day this would not have been to difficult of problem. Though the road through the nature preserve was not heavily travel, she figured she was only a mile or so from her destination, if Sano's directions were correct. She should have no trouble walking to his friend Kenshin's cabin where everyone was staying. The was even a nature trail along the other side of the road that apparently went right by the house.

Except it was night. Walking alone through a nature preserve at night was not something Kaoru was looking forward to. Granted, there was a full moon tonight so at least she would have some light. But still the idea gave her the creeps.

Had she been in the city, she would have been more comfortable. She knew how to defend herself, assess potential muggers, and had a highly developed street sense. But this was the wilderness as far as she was concerned. Muggers she could handle. Wolves? Bears? She wasn't so sure. Plus in the city her cell phone would have worked and she would just have waited for AAA. But here her coverage was spotty.

She sighed, zipped up her coat, grabbed her duffle bag and exited the car. She wasn't getting indoors any faster sitting there. Walking briskly down the path she tried to force herself to relax. She normally liked to appreciate nature, but the possibility of indigenous wildlife had her a bit freaked out. The paper had said something about wolves returning to this area, hadn't it….

Shaking her head she tried to repress the memory of the howl she had heard earlier that evening. _'Focus'_ she told herself. _'Kenshin lives around here, and wolves don't like to come that close to human habitats, right? Just enjoy the moonlight on the trees, the breeze rustling the branches…'_

Kaoru stopped. There wasn't that much of a breeze tonight to make loud of noise. It sounded like an animal in the underbrush. Kaoru started walking again, at a pace just short of a run. _'Don't run. Don't run. Running attracts predators. Don't run.'_ She tried to calm herself. The rustling noise seem to have run ahead of her and faded into the night.

'_It was probably just a rabbit. Not something large, like what ever that deer was running from. Not a wolf. Definitely not a werewolf. Even if there is a full moon tonight.'_

Kaoru reigned in her imagination. Wolves were fine. Werewolves belonged strictly between the covers of her paranormal romance novels. One of which was currently tucked in her duffle bag, waiting to be finished. While Sano's get-together this week should be fun, she was definitely planning on spending some of her vacation curled up by a fire reading a book. A rather racy book by preference, given her lack of boyfriend to satisfy that aspect of her life.

Kaoru slowed her pace as her heart rate returned to almost normal. The nature sounds seemed… natural, as far as she could tell. Brushing aside her earlier scare as an over active imagination combined with stress from a long week of work, Kaoru began to relax and enjoy the way the moonlight played over the path.

When she briefly saw golden eyes reflected in the moonlight, however, she screamed. A few quick footsteps brought a redhead young man into her sight.

"Are you alright, miss?" he asked looking at her with concerned violet eyes.

Kaoru yelped and placed a hand on her heart. A faint blush spread over her cheeks. "You just scared me. I thought for a second that…." She shook her head brushing away the stray thought.

He smiled and approached. She eyed him warily, as he held out his hand. Who would be out here at this time of night?

"I'm Kenshin," he said, causing her to relax. "And you are?.."

"Kaoru, Sano's friend." She shook his hand.

"Ah. Great to see you. We were expecting you earlier tonight. And by road."

"Sorry. Work ran late. And my car is in the ditch a ways back. I swerved to avoid a deer and it landed me in the mud."

"Well let's get you settled in. I'll walk you back to the house." He reached over and took her bag. "The preserve is relatively safe, but I'm happy to exchange my nightly run for a moonlit walk with a lovely girl. Wouldn't want the wildlife to scare you." His eyes twinkled.

Kaoru nodded, grateful for his offer but irritated all the same. True, she had been frightened earlier, but she was perfectly capable of carrying her own bag. And it hadn't been that scary, now that she knew it wasn't wolves. It hadn't been wolves, right?

"Are there any wolves around here? I thought I heard one earlier tonight," she asked.

Kenshin cocked his head at her, with an amused smile tugging at his lips. "There's one wolf that lives around here. But I'd say you aren't in any danger from him. He seems to like you. Perhaps you'll get to see him if you're really good." He smiled wide. Moonlight shone off his incisors and gave his eyes a golden hue.

Before Kaoru could respond, he took her elbow. "Here's the cabin turn off. I look forward to spending the week with you. We shall have to take another moonlit walk together."

Sano swarming out the house to scope her up in a hug ended that conversation. But as she lay in bed that night she wondered what exactly Kenshin meant by those comments.


	2. Moonlight Urges

**Author's Note:** This drabble is for my loyal reviewer Jasmine blossom625, who asked me if I was planning a sequel to Moonlight. I didn't have one planned at the time, but her question inspired me. This is a parallel piece to Moonlight, from Kenshin's perspective.

**Disclaimer:** All standard disclaimers apply: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin, I make no money off this work, etc. Characters of Rurouni Kenshin are the property of Nobuhiro Watsuki.

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Moonlight Urges

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Around the night of the full moon, the pressure to change grew quite intense. When Sano had asked if he and his friends could visit for a week, Kenshin had agreed since only the first night would overlap with the full moon. Now he wondered if that had been a mistake.

It had been a while since he had needed to repress his urge to change and he could tell it was making him annoyed and irritable. While unusually in complete control of himself, the full moon called his other nature, to the point of it almost bleeding over into his human form. Conversely, by the time of the new moon it would take most his concentration and will power to summon his wolf form.

Eying Sano's group of friends who were animatedly talking, he quietly slipped into his room and changed into running clothes. Sano, who seemed more concerned about the frozen pizza that just came out of the oven and his friend Kaoru who still wasn't here, only grunted in acknowledgement when Kenshin mentioned his intention of going for a run. The gleam in Misao's eyes as he left suggested that she would be using the time to plot ways of fixing him up with Kaoru, given her comments when she learned that he was single.

Jogging lightly he ran to the smokehouse at the back edge of his property where he removed and folded his clothes, before arching back and letting his wolf form surface. He stretched and shook briefly, getting reaccustomed to this form and relaxing as the constant tug of the full moon faded. Pushing the door open with his nose, he quickly bound away into the forest.

After a quick trot through the northern boundary of his territory and a howl or two, Kenshin caught the scent of a deer and started to pursue it. While normally, he'd take down the deer, eat his fill, drag the carcass home, and smoke the remains, his current company put a crimp in those plans. Returning from a run with a half eaten deer carcass would require more explanation than even he was willing to attempt.

Unwilling to waste the meat that the deer's life would provide, Kenshin backed off his pursuit a bit. Chasing the deer a slow pace, mainly out of habit, he stopped when he heard the approach of a car on the nearby road. Unfortunately the deer did not cease its fleeing. From the sound of things the car had missed the deer, but had gone off the road.

Kenshin cautiously approached, making sure to stay completely out of sight. Listening he could hear sounds of movement and the slam of a car door. Inhaling deeply he relaxed when no scent of blood came to his nostrils.

Instead, it was a female scent full of jasmine and a bit of stress, likely from her recent startlement. No doubt the missing Kaoru. He padded along, following her back to the cabin. As a wolf, his perception of her differed greatly from those of a man. Her scent was his predominate focus, and even with unpleasant undertones of tension and fright he definitely enjoyed it. The strength and confidence in her movements appealed to him. The inherent strength of her lifeforce called to him.

He rustled the bushes next to her and smelt her scent spiked with fear. He wasn't trying to frighten her; part of him wondered how she would react to his presence. The way she kept a hold of herself impressed him.

He loped off towards the smokehouse before his curiosity got the better of him and he met her in the wrong form. It would be better to encounter her during his night time jog first.

Misao could keep her intrigues to herself; he didn't need help in pursuing what he wanted.


	3. In the Daylight

**Author's Note:** Here's another bit in the moonlight series. This one based of "Shared Secret" from The Romance Themes List Drabble Challenge by Sailor Draco.

**Disclaimer:** All standard disclaimers apply: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin, I make no money off this work, etc. Characters of Rurouni Kenshin are the property of Nobuhiro Watsuki.

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In the Daylight

(Moonlight, pt 3)

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The next morning, the couples headed off for some bird watching while Kaoru choose to remain at the cabin. She was smart enough to know that _bird watching _ was code for make out on the trail benches, since the only way to quiet Misao enough for birds to land was for Aoshi to kiss her senseless.

Kaoru elected instead to read her book by the fireside. The tale of romance, weres, and intrigue had so engrossed her that she failed to noticed Kenshin slip into the room. When she finally looked up and saw him, she wondered how long he had been watching her.

"Enjoying the book?" he asked as he strolled over to sit on the couch.

Kaoru smiled and nodded.

Looking at the cover picture of a sexy shirtless man on a moonlight background, with a lurid title embossed over him, Kenshin quirked an eyebrow. "Vampire?"

Kaoru blushed. "Werewolf."

His eyes twinkled. "You have a preference?"

Kaoru felt her cheeks heat up even more, but forced herself to look him in the eye. In a steady voice she answered, "While I have no problems with a neck fetish and vampires are reputed to be quite talented kissers, the thought of drinking blood squicks me out. Raw meat I can handle. Pouches of blood in the fridge, no."

She swore she saw specks of gold in his violet eyes as his grin widened.

"I shall make note of that for my grocery shopping list. _No blood. Extra raw meat._"

Kaoru swatted him with her book.

Catching her hand, Kenshin pulled her up from the couch. "Come, I'll introduce you to the wolf I mentioned last night. He's the closest thing to a were we have around here."

"And this wolf will just appear on you say so?" Kaoru raised an eyebrow.

The side of Kenshin's mouth ticked up. "I know his habits pretty well. Besides, it's a nice day out. Bring your book along if you must. You can read in the sun while you wait."

Kaoru grudgingly allowed him to usher her out of the house. Taking a rather straight course, yet not following any trail Kaoru could see, Kenshin led her to a small clearing at the shore of a pond. Pointing to a large boulder sitting in the sun, he said, "Sit there an read, I'm sure the wolf will be along shortly."

"Your not going to wait with me?" Kaoru asked.

Kenshin shook his head. "He won't appear if I'm there with you. Besides, I'd hate to disturb your reading. I'll be back in an hour or so to guide you home. Though if you walk straight east from here you'll hit a trail that will take you back to the cabin, should you want to return."

Kaoru looked slightly concerned. "Your abandoning me in the forest to some strange wolf?"

Kenshin chuckled. "There's nothing to worry about, I know this wolf quite well and he won't hurt you. I'll be around these parts myself, so if you do run into trouble, which you won't, just scream and I'm come save you." He grinned.

Kaoru looked disgruntled. "I'm sure I can save myself, thank you very much. Well, at least I'll get some reading in if this wolf of yours fails to show." She climbed up on the rock and made herself comfortable.

Kenshin watched her with a hooded gaze a bit before nodding and strolling off into the trees.

Kaoru soon relaxed in the morning sun and returned her attention to the novel. So absorbed in the story she forgot to watch for the wolf. It was only the loud breaking of a branch that finally caused her to look up.

The wolf was there, watching her. Kaoru froze for a moment, then sensing no threat from him she allowed herself to relax and examine him. He was a rather large wolf, at least as far as Kaoru could tell. His fur was a smoky blue-gray, well groomed, with a bit of white at his tail. He seemed fit and trim, yet his posture was relaxed. His front paws were on a large stick, almost as if he had intentionally broken it to get her attention.

When she looked at his face, she saw deep golden eyes staring back at her. Eyes that looked less wild and more intelligent than she had expected. The way he examined her left her feeling slightly disconcerted.

Shaking his head and giving what she would almost call a wolfish smile, he stretched and stood. He walked around slowly so that she had a clear view of all of him and then gently trotted off to the trees. Just before he disappeared from view, he looked over his shoulder and directly into her eyes.

The entire experience had been unsettling. Not frightening, but definitely unsettling. Kaoru didn't know what to make of it and couldn't seem to return to her book. Her thoughts were still jumbled when Kenshin arrived a bit later.

Saying nothing, she gave him a forced half smile and hopped down from the rock. He watched her gently, but remained silent on their walk back.

By the time her thoughts were in some semblance of order they had reached the cabin where the others had clearly returned and started lunch. As Kenshin slipped inside and held the door for her, she realized once again that her questions would have to wait.


	4. Moonlight Question

**Disclaimer:** All standard disclaimers apply: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin, I make no money off this work, etc. Characters of Rurouni Kenshin are the property of Nobuhiro Watsuki.

**Author's Note:** This one is partly inspired by the drabble challenge "Popping the Question", though I do horribly bastardize these prompts.

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Moonlight Question

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Kenshin was enjoying Kaoru's presence at his cabin. His wolf side wanted to curl up around her, breath in her scent, and have her scratch his ears. While lying curled around her definitely interested him, he was focusing more on getting to know her.

Or, rather, her getting to know him. He had skillfully managed to avoid Misao's more blatant attempts at throwing them together while still managing his own pursuit of her.

He genuinely liked her personality and caring nature, though causing her temper to flair was also quite fun.

Throughout all the walks, games, and fireside chats he had been subtly dropping hints about his other nature. Not to clue her in, but more just to see how she would react. While his were heritage was a secret, it wasn't something any rational person would guess. Moreover, who would believe her if she were to find out and try to publicize it?

No, the hints were more for his own amusement and so that he could point back to them if he ever did tell her. A toothy grin and glint of gold in his eyes by the fireside she could brush off. His hunting stories could be loosely interpreted. The extremely rare nature of his steak might earn him a double take. The full moon and wolf brother comments got him a hard look. He really was having fun with this. She seemed at the verge of saying something once or twice and he wondered just what she was thinking. It's not like she could come out and ask if he was a werewolf.

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Kaoru was getting annoyed. No matter how subtle Kenshin thought his pursuit of her was, it was quite apparent to everyone at the cabin he was interested in her. At least this had caused Misao to stop pushing them together and to simply tease her about it private.

She couldn't say she objected to the attention. She was definitely attracted to him, red hair, toned body, and all. His strength of character, personal integrity, and cooking skills were major assets.

No, her problem was his indirect approach. It almost seemed like he was trying to herd her some destination. Or was simply stalking her, waiting for some time of his choosing. He kept hinting at things, yet avoiding any real questions. Which of course made her imagination run wild. The shape changer romance she started reading after the werewolf book probably didn't help things….

It was as she was finishing packing up to go that she finally confronted him. Nearly everyone had left, though Sano had insisted he would follower her out to insure there was no repeat of her car getting stuck. But before she joined Sano in the driveway she was determined to get at least one straight answer out of Kenshin.

She had thought of many things to ask him and she hadn't quite decided which one. But when she opened her mouth, out came something she had never meant to ask.

"Are you a werewolf?"


	5. Moonlight Mysteries

**Disclaimer:** All standard disclaimers apply: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin, I make no money off this work, etc. Characters of Rurouni Kenshin are the property of Nobuhiro Watsuki.

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Moonlight Mysteries

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Even two weeks later Kenshin was still amazed at her audacity to ask if he was a werewolf. His shock must have shown on his face that day, since she immediately began to turn red. However, before either of them could answer Sano returned and bellowed for her to leave.

When he called her a week later to ask her out for dinner, she seemed embarrassed and hesitant at first. But when he made no reference, even jokingly, to her previous faux pas she seemed to relax. Despite the golden opportunity to tell her the truth, Kenshin deemed it best to let the topic rest for now.

He must have been coming on very strong, if she had felt the need to ask him _that_. He sometimes forgot how close to the surface his other nature was during a full moon. And with his inner wolf's interest in Kaoru, it had no doubt bleed through even more.

However, given the new moon's appearance, his wolf blood should be completely dormant during his date with Kaoru. He could get to know her as a human and hopefully let her calm down a bit.

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Given the slip of her tongue with Kenshin, Kaoru had sworn off her paranormal romances for a while. Since she had just learned that Kenshin was a mystery writer, she decided to give his books a shot instead. After finishing his latest novel, Kaoru rested her head on the table in private mortification. Her earlier question had been embarrassing, but having read some of his works she was amazed he hadn't laughed out right at her.

He wrote pseudo-paranormal mysteries. Stories the seemed to have the classical elements – vampires, werewolves, zombies, you name it—yet still end up having a completely rational and scientific explanation at the end. The pale girl who's skin seemed to burn at dawn was not a vampire, but a case of Erythropietic Protoporphyria, the sunlight allergy disease. The person everyone swore was a zombie was really the unfortunate victim of terodotoxin poisoning, which cased similar symptoms.

In every book what seemed to be some supernatural episode always turned out to have reasonable (if not probable) explanation. Modern day Scooby-do in book form. True, there were some online fans who believed that the main character had some dark secret and used his role as a detective to shield the supernatural underworld from discovery. But clearly Kenshin favored the rational over the spiritual view of the world.

Which of course simply made her embarrassment more keen. Thankfully when he called last week he had graciously chosen to ignore her previous slip of the tongue. Kaoru had been so relieved that he hadn't brought it up she didn't realize how skillfully he had maneuvered her into accepting a date until afterwards. He was coming into town to meet with his editor on Friday, so taking her out to dinner that night was convenient.

Of course it would be a long drive home for him afterwards, so perhaps she should offer to let him spend the night.

On the couch…

Kaoru shook her head. She really needed to get her mind out of those paranormal romance novels and back to the real world that Kenshin lived in.


	6. Moonlight Kiss

**Disclaimer:** All standard disclaimers apply: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin, I make no money off this work, etc. Characters of Rurouni Kenshin are the property of Nobuhiro Watsuki.

**Author's Note:** Just a reminder that this work is simply a series of drabbles and is not written as a story. I write the drabbles as I get inspired, so there's no story arc plotted out like I do with my other pieces. This drabble is from the challenge prompt "First Kiss".

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Her date with Kenshin was perfectly normal. Well, not quite like her normal dates, since he was a perfect gentleman, but there was nothing paranormal about it. He took her to nice vegetarian restaurant. She had to bite her lip to refrain from commenting on his obvious enjoyment of vegetables, given how he had attacked his bloody steak the last time they were together.

They kept up a light conversation, basically getting to know one another. She found out he had been orphaned at a young age and raised by his mother's brother. Hiko apparently was a large abrasive recluse who was not happy that Kenshin's guardianship had forced him out of his hermitage. Still, it was clear he cared about Kenshin, even if Kenshin's imitations of his scathing remarks were accurate.

Kaoru shared how she had been raised by her father and spent most of her childhood and adolescence practicing Kendo. When she revealed that next weekend she was competing in a local martial arts exhibition, Kenshin immediately claimed the right to come watch and cheer her on. Kaoru wasn't sure if she was more embarrassed or flattered.

After dinner they had strolled through a local park, Kenshin declaring that he needed to fulfill

his promise of more moonlight walks with her. Kaoru simply laughed and enjoyed her crepe from the food stand in the park.

Afterwards they had returned to her place, where they discussed random things from philosophy to kites. When she offered him the couch for the night, Kenshin readily accepted. Kaoru wasn't sure if she should be disappointed or relieved when he simply stroked her hair and cupped her face, but failed to kiss her good night. She definitely wanted that kiss, but she wasn't convinced that it would have ended at only a kiss. And as attractive as she found him, she wasn't quite ready to sleep with him. Yet.

The next day, they played tennis in the morning and caught a movie in the afternoon. After dinner

Kenshin crushed her in a game of Scrabble, but she readily returned the defeat in chess. Once again

their conversation kept them up late in the night, and yet again she went to sleep unkissed.

Kenshin left after brunch the next morning. However the parting kiss he gave her more than made

up for the previous two nights. It was quite clear to her than not only was he interested, he definitely had the sex drive of a normal male. Part of her wished he wasn't such a gentleman. Though the look in his eyes suggested that he was simply restraining himself for the moment.

In all, it was a great weekend and Kaoru looked forward to seeing him again. The ordinariness of their time together made Kaoru wonder just what she had been thinking back at the cabin. And though she wouldn't admit it to herself, much less anyone else, a small, secret part of her was disappointed to find out Kenshin was completely normal. Despite her practical nature, Kaoru definitely had a romantic streak deep inside.

But it's not like she could really expect to date a werewolf.


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